10th Controller Conference at the HSZG

For many, it was a reunion in Görlitz after two years. They are part of the core group of the large family of controllers from universities in all federal states. One controller from a Saxon university has not missed a single one of the ten conferences; two controllers from universities in Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria have attended nine times. But new faces also keep coming to Görlitz to exchange ideas and learn about current projects at other universities through the specialized presentations.

In 2001, the then-Chancellor, Dr. Peter Reinhold, and the head of the former rector’s office, Dr. Kühne, had the idea to organize an exchange of experiences on topics related to Controlling at universities, a field that was still in its infancy at the time. The response was overwhelming, and there was no shortage of topics—ranging from cost and performance accounting to the tools of new university management and even separation and capacity calculations. Later, Chancellor Karin Hollstein and Dr. Scheibler from the Controlling Department took over the organization and successfully continued this event format.

And so the idea became a tradition. For the 10th conference at the end of September 2019, 89 participants from 14 federal states gathered on the banks of the Neisse River.

In his opening address, Prof. Matthias Schmidt from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences spoke about the transformation of the world of work, which is increasingly affecting—and will continue to affect—university administrations. “Telework and mobile work require new methods of performance measurement.” Process psychologist Dr. Jörg Heidig from the Institute for Organizational Development of the same name addressed the question of what types of employees exist and how they can be motivated to contribute constructively to the work process in an increasingly flexible work environment.

A tradition of the conferences is a supporting program designed to help participants get to know the cities of Zittau and Görlitz and their surrounding areas better. On the occasion of the anniversary conference, the program included a visit to St. Marienthal Abbey with an expert-led tour. The evening event that followed at the Parkhotel Görlitz provided the perfect setting for an in-depth exchange of experiences.